Jul 19 Encouraging the New Mom in Your Life

Having been a mom for over two years now (if you count my pregnancy!), I'm beginning to feel a bit less like a new mom. There are still plenty of days where I have no clue what I'm doing, and every day finds me on my knees begging God for wisdom and grace as I raise a little person, but I'm starting to feel a little more confident in this role. Looking back on the last two years, I am amazed at how the Lord has stretched and grown me through motherhood.
Even though I may feel much more confident in motherhood, I still need the wisdom and help of other Christian women who are further along in their walk with God and their job as moms. It is overwhelming to think of the responsibility God has given mothers. Along with our husbands, we are charged with the task of raising our children up to be faithful servants of God. Additionally, we're responsible for their physical needs. It's no small task.

In many cultures, women live with or very near their mothers and older female relatives. They have plenty of seasoned women who can come alongside them to counsel and help them transition into motherhood. In our Western society, many of us don't live in the same town as our mothers, much less next door! It can be very difficult for a new mom to handle all the changes that have suddenly occurred in her life without that kind of help.

Thankfully, the Body of Christ is designed to function as a family, even when our own families are far away. Titus 2:3-5 commands, "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior... They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."

The model set forth in the Scriptures is that older, more mature Christians are to mentor and disciple younger ones. Experienced Christian moms should come alongside younger ones to disciple them in their role.

Maybe you're a seasoned mom. Maybe your children are older, even out of the house, and you want to fulfill this role, but you don't know how.

Let me first tell you that the younger moms I know would love to have you step into this role. We would love to have your wisdom and advice. Many of us are craving it, in fact. So don't be afraid to step up.

If you know a young mom, start by asking if she'd like to come over for lunch. Offer to babysit her children. Encourage her if you see her living out the Gospel faithfully in her home. Admonish her gently with Scripture if she's not. Be willing to walk with her in her new vocation. Pray for her. Set a good example of godly motherhood for her in your own life.

And fellow young moms, let's seek out this kind of mentoring. Our independent, prideful, I-can-do-it-myself-and-don't-care-what-anyone-thinks culture has conditioned us to be defensive when others try to help us, but the Bible teaches us that we need one another to grow and become the women that God has designed us to be.